At the present time a number of electronic dictionaries and language translators are commercially available. Generally, electronic dictionaries are the size of a book and intended to sit on a desk. Some language translators are also book-like in size, although others are small enough to fit in a pocket or purse. The keyboards are generally the same as a typewriter keyboard with the arrangement of keys called a "QWERTY" keyboard.
That keyboard arrangement is adapted to be typed upon using both hands. However, if the keyboard is small, as in a pocket device, it is often typed upon using only one hand with a "hunt and peck" method. Because such small keyboards are typed upon using only one hand, they sometimes have a straight A to Z keyboard arrangement.
Users are not in the habit of typing with one hand and often find that their typing of words is slow, cumbersome and prone to errors.
In U.S Pat. No. 911,842 to Rollefson, entitled "Typewriting Machine", patented 1909, a typewriter keyboard is shown in which the central keys are arranged in four horizontal rows. The layout of the horizontal rows is the "common keyboard", i.e., the "QWERTY" keyboard, which are all the letters of the alphabet, including the vowels. In addition, there are fourteen special keys, seven of which are arranged on each the left and right sides of the regular keyboard. These special keys are the vowels and a space key.